Judging a Bible by its Cover

The adage is that you can’t, but people do. Covers can make or break a book and even a Bible edition. Currently, the Canadian Bible Society is offering an ESV Women’s Devotional Bible in a “Burgundy imitation leather with Birch design” for $39.99 that could easily sell for much, much more and in fact has a higher price on the barcode. It has high quality gold edging and inside, the page format is equally classy. Their website describes other features:

On the other hand, Tyndale has released some new editions of the Life Application Bible that continue to use the powder blue and pink imitation leather as a component of the duo-tone design. I hope they do well with these elsewhere because our customers notice right away that the suede picks up dirt very quickly. Of course, when Tyndale does connect with customers with something, like that paisley women’s Bible I’ve mentioned before here, they seem to discontinue it in no time flat. (But hey, we’re just retailers, what do we know? If I offered my opinion, I’m sure they’d say, “Nobody asked you.”)

Right now, two of Tyndale’s best covers can be found on a couple of very inexpensive Teen Thinline Bibles. (Oh wait, they can’t use that term, better make that Slimline.) Check out 9781414363295 and 9781414363288. My suggestion is to simply ditch the cardboard sleeve — seriously, throw them out — and market these to non-teen customers.

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